Columbia County authorities charged Marina Mae Middlebrooks, 29, (shown in an Augusta Chronicle file photo from January 23, 2012) with stabbing her toddler to death before crashing her sport utility vehicle into a tree in Appling on Thursday.

Columbia County authorities charged an Augusta woman today with stabbing her toddler to death before crashing her sport utility vehicle into a tree in Appling on Thursday.

Marina Mae Middlebrooks, 29, of Norton Boulevard in Augusta, was charged with murder and cruelty to children in the death of her daughter, Sky Allen, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris. She’s being held in the Columbia County Detention Center without bond.

Middlebrooks drifted off of Ray Owens Road in front of North Columbia Elementary School in Appling at about 4:20 p.m. Thursday. Her Honda CRV hit a tree. While initially tending to Middlebrooks, emergency medical personnel noticed Sky’s hand extended onto the driver’s seat from the floorboard, according to Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sky was found dead and facedown on the floorboard covered with fresh and dried blood and also covered by items including a purse and backpack, Collins said. A Friday autopsy at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Atlanta confirmed that Sky died from a stab wound to the throat deemed it a homicide, Collins said. She also had a minor cut to the side of her throat.

The attack could have occurred in the vehicle, but officials aren’t disclosing details of the attack.

“At this point, because it is an ongoing investigation, we’re not discussing any additional details to include when and where this occurred,” Morris said.

No third party is suspected, Morris said.

Middlebrooks was found to be nude from the waist down and had stab wounds or cuts all over her body, Collins said. She was released from the hospital Monday morning, Morris said.

“Outside of any injuries she may have sustained as a result of the traffic accident, there were self-inflicted injuries,” Morris said.